Electromechanical locks offer increased convenience

As the global leader in door opening solutions, ASSA ABLOY is leading the technological shift from mechanical to electromechanical locks.

The development of electromechanical locking solutions is perhaps the area of the security market in which innovation is most apparent. Today, only three to five percent of all doors are fitted with electromechanical locks or access control systems, but this is changing fast. It is expected that perhaps 20 percent of doors will feature advanced solutions of this type in the future.

“There is a true demand for these new products, both from a security point of view and for convenience reasons,” says Ulf Södergren, chief technology officer at ASSA ABLOY. “Electromechanical products can add value for the consumer.”

Mogens Jensen, market region manager for Scandinavia, says Friends Arena, Sweden’s new national football stadium in Solna, Stockholm, is a showpiece for what can be achieved with electromechanical locks. “For Friends Arena, we have provided the ASSA ARX access control system and Aperio escutcheon door units for nearly 300 of the 700 ARX-controlled doors,” he says. “It’s quite a unique building and because it’s a new national arena it’s a prestigious project.”

Large, commercial buildings are the most obvious application for electromechanical locks, but Jensen sees just as much potential for the residential market. “The only reason that residential demand has been weaker than commercial demand for digital door locks and electromechanical solutions is that the right product hasn’t been available until recently,” he says.

ASSA ABLOY believes that Yale Doorman, a talking electronic lock for the home launched simultaneously in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in March, is the right product for the residential market.

“There’s a voice guide in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and English, so you can choose which language you want. And when you need to do some programming, the lock tells you what to do,” Jensen says.

With the increasing availability of user-friendly products such as Yale Doorman, it seems likely that electromechanical locks will become increasingly popular across all markets.